Improvement in belt-punches



UNITED STATES D. M. WESTON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TOGREENE, TWEED I PATENT OFFICE.

82; 00., OF BROOKLYN,.NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN B ELT-PUNCHES.

Specification forming part ofLetters Patent No. 81,717, dated September1, 1868.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatl, DAVID M. WESTON, of Boston, in the county of Suffolkand State of Massachusetts, haveinvent'ed a new and useful Improvementin Punches for Belts and for other Purposes; and I do hereby declarethat the following is afull, clear, and exact description thereof, whichwill enable others skilled in the art to make and-use the same,reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which- Figure 1 represents a side elevation of myimproved punch. Fig. 2 represents the same in the position it occupiesafter havingbeen forced through a belt and before being withdrawn fromthe same, with a part broken away. Fig.3 represents in red a belt whichhas been punched by myimproved punch and united by studs, such aspatented to Blake, for which it is particularly designed.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

The nature of this invention relates to improvements in punches forpunching the holes in belts for lacing them together, and for punchingother articles. i

It consists of an improved construction of the jaws of a commonhand-punch, whereby the distance of the hole to be punched from the edgeof the material may be readily gaged and the material disengaged fromthe punch after the hole has been formed; also, an improved arrangementof the spring for opening the jaws, as will be more fully described onreference to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein- Thejaw A, against whichthe cutter or punch B operates, is slotted or bifurcated in the end, asshown at O, and provided with a bracket, D, which serves as a gage tolimit the distance of the cut from the end or edge of the article to bepunched.

The bracket D is provided with a right-angled projection, E, which isalso bifurcated or slotted to allow the punch to pass through,and which'serves as a guard to strip the article which has been punched from thepunch,which may be ofany suitable form to suit the required form of thehole.

F represents arubber spring interposed be tween the handles, near thejoint, the ends resting in sockets provided for the same in the handles.The said sockets may be formed in casting the handles, and are ofsufficient depth to retain the spring in position after it is inserted,the shoulders of the handles at the joint preventing them from openingtoo far. In punching belts of leather or rubber, which are sometimesvery thick and hard, the irictional adherence of the punches in the sameis very great and requires a spring of considerable power to accomplishthe withdrawal of them.

In the use of the steel springs as commonly applied to punches of thischaracter I have found considerable objection when used for punchingheavy material, as they soon become loose in the connection with thehandle, whereby the loose end slips out of place, and they also soonlose their elastic quality.

I find the use of rubber springs according to my arrangement to givemuch more satisfactory results. They can also be readily replaced whendesired.

Having thus described my invention, Iclaim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- The belt punch having its lower jaw, A, slotted at Ofor the passage of the cutter B of the upper jaw, and provided with thegage D, carrying the slotted guard E, all operating as de scribed, thejaws being opened by the tension 7 of the rubber spring F, held insockets or recesses of the handles, as herein set forth and Shown.

D. M. WESTON. Witnesses:

JOHN ALIsoN FRASER, ALEX. F. ROBERTS.

